Recently, some business schools have decided to accept the GMAT (Graduate Management Admissions Test) or GRE (Graduate Record Examination) score as part of an MBA applicant’s application.
Historically, students applying to enter business school take the GMAT, while those seeking a non-business graduate degree take the GRE.
While the GMAT remains the most widely accepted standardized test for aspiring high school students, some business school programs have chosen to begin accepting the GRE score as a means of broadening their pool of applicants by encouraging greater numbers of applicants. requests from those with varying educational levels and experience. background, and those who have a hard time getting to a GMAT testing facility.
Here are some other interesting facts about why business schools are starting to accept the GRE:
-Price: GRE is less expensive than GMAT. The GRE costs $ 140, while the GMAT costs $ 250). The higher GMAT exam fee could limit the number of students applying for business school programs, especially when considering the cost of multiple repetitions and separate prep books / programs
-Streamlining Applications: The GRE is taken by students applying to various graduate programs, which means that students will not have to study, pay, and take another standardized test to apply to business school.
-Test centers: the GRE is given in more places in the world than the GMAT. Schools are always looking for more diverse candidates, and accepting the GRE could lead to more applicants from around the world who might not have the finances or the time to be able to travel to a GMAT test center.
Although the GRE and the GMAT are somewhat similar, the differences between the two tests are most apparent in an analysis of their scores, mean scores, and verbal and quantitative sections.
-Total score:
o GRE: Like the SAT, the GRE consists of verbal and quantitative sections, each of which can generate between 200 and 800 points. The writing section can get it between 0 and 6. For admission, most colleges don’t consider the GRE writing score as much as verbal and quantitative scores. Please note that GRE scores are taken into consideration along with your undergraduate GPA, admission interview, extracurricular activities, etc. The average GRE score across the board is 1050, while the average GRE score for a Harvard student is 1330.
o GMAT: The GMAT is scored from 200 to 800 and has verbal and quantitative sessions, while the writing section is scored separately, with scores ranging from 0 to 6. The average GMAT score is around 500, while than the top ten business school students an average of 720.
-Writing Section: The writing sections of the GRE and GMAT exam are similar and consist of two essay questions, one that asks you to analyze an argument and the other that asks you to analyze a problem.
-Verbal section: the GRE verbal section consists of analogies, antonyms, sentence completion and reading comprehension passages. And unlike the GMAT, the GRE tests vocabulary knowledge out of context. The GRE is generally considered to have a more difficult verbal section than the GMAT. The verbal section of the GMAT consists of reading comprehension, critical thinking and sentence correction questions. Both tests are administered in English. If you are not a native English speaker, I recommend that you take the GMAT as its verbal section is easier to prepare.
-Quantitative section: The GRE quantitative section is largely recognized as less challenging than the GMAT quantitative section. Unlike the math section of the GMAT, the GRE currently does not have a Data Adequacy section and generally requires a lower level of proficiency in math. However, the creators of the GRE, the ETS (Educational Testing Service), announced that they will add more data interpretation questions to their test and increase the overall difficulty level of the GRE.
In general, the best business schools look for fairly high percentile scores on the GRE and GMAT, especially in the quantitative section. Some schools require at least a 50th percentile score on the quantitative section of any of the tests to be admitted to their program.
When making a decision on whether to take the GMAT or the GRE, you should consider whether the schools you are applying to accept the GRE instead of the GMAT. If so, look at your academic strengths and weaknesses. In general, if you have excellent quantitative skills, look further at the GMAT. If you have outstanding written and verbal skills with less stellar quantitative skills, consider taking the GRE. Remember, both tests are difficult and will require a significant amount of study, no matter which test you choose. Make sure you prepare with a great GMAT Prep or GRE Prep program.